Wendy’s Uses Stealth Twitter Campaign To Introduce New Burger

November 17, 2011

New Yorkers walking down 6th Avenue or riding the 6 subway line may have been baffled at first by recent mysterious ads for @GirlBehindSix, which described it as a “140-character game show.” But that simple promotion, plus a one-day Promoted Trend on Twitter, generated 33,000 followers for @GirlBehindSix, which was a front for the promotion of a new burger at the Wendy’s fast-food restaurant chain.

The Six referred to an open slot on Wendy’s menu, which was then filled by the new $2.99 W burger.

People who figured out that the “140-character game show” referred to Twitter flocked to the site, which at first didn’t show affiliation with Wendy’s. By following @GirlBehindSix, retweeting the contest rules or sending photos of “where a tasty #SIX is missing” they competed to win prizes such as a remote control helicopter, a La-Z-Boy recliner, a bobblehead of their own pet, a voice activated R2D2 or an espresso and cappuccino maker.

According to a story on Mashable, the stealth ad campaign launched on October 6th, and the game show – managed by ad agency Kaplan Thaler Group — started on October 31st and concluded November 14th. Its goal was to offer as prizes things people wanted, but wouldn’t buy for themselves.

The game show’s draw was impressive. Its Klout score that went from zero to 72 and certainly outdid the 3,500 followers for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, which spent far more money on TV advertising and a Twitter campaign that also provided prizes to build its followers.

When the promotion concluded last Monday, Wendy’s revealed its affiliation with @GirlBehindSix – and began the more difficult process of migrating its new followers over to its Wendy’s Twitter account, which has about 48,000 followers.

Is this campaign clever, or too complicated? Will Wendy’s be able to transfer a significant amount of @GirlBehindSix’s followers to the @Wendys account, and will ‘W’ burger sales get off to a strong start from the social media buzz?